Guitarist Franny Beecher of Bill Haley’s Comets dies

FILE - This March 21, 2005 file photo shows members of The Comets, from left to right, Marshall Lytle, Franny Beecher, and Joey Ambrose perform at Rock is Fifty party held at the Gibson Guitar Studio in New York. Beecher, lead guitarist for Bill Haley and the Comets, which helped kicked off the rock and roll era with the iconic hit ìRock Around the Clockî in 1955, died Monday, Feb. 25, 2014 in a nursing home near Philadelphia. He was 92. (AP Photo/Adam Rountree, File)

FILE - This July 6, 2005 file photo shows members of Bill Haley and The Comets, from left, Franny Beecher, John Grande, Joey Ambrose, Marshall Lytle, and Dick Richards setting their hands in wet cement as the band is inducted into the Rockwalk in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles. Beecher, lead guitarist for Bill Haley and the Comets, which helped kicked off the rock and roll era with the iconic hit ìRock Around the Clockî in 1955, died Monday, Feb. 25, 2014 in a nursing home near Philadelphia. He was 92. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)

NORRISTOWN, Pa. (AP) — Franny Beecher, lead guitarist for Bill Haley and the Comets, which helped kick off the rock and roll era with the hit “Rock Around the Clock” in 1955, has died. He was 92.

Beecher’s daughter, Pauline Grinstead, said her father died in his sleep Monday night in a nursing home near Philadelphia.

Beecher played with jazz musicians Buddy Greco and Benny Goodman before the Comets, whose hits also included “See You Later, Alligator.”

Philadelphia’s Danny Cedrone played on the original recording of “Rock Around the Clock,” but Beecher played on the song’s national television debut and in films, remaining with the Comets until 1962.

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In the 1980s, Beecher and other Comets reunited and played tour dates around the U.S. and internationally.